Team Suzuki Press Office – May 24.
Jeremy Seewer took his Rockstar Energy Suzuki RM-Z250 to sixth position overall at a busy and challenging Matterley Basin circuit for the Grand Prix of Great Britain today. 35,000 fans meant a large increase of public over the 2014 edition of the event and combined with the fast, wide and inviting layout created a scene for arguably the best meeting of the FIM Motocross World Championship so far this season.
Cloudy skies kept conditions cool and a light shower fell towards the end of raceday as a total of six classes lined up behind the steel gate at some point through the entire, frantic weekend of action. The sweeping turns of Matterley invited choice with lines and ruts and a few of the sections were bumpy and difficult to judge. The English course near the city of Winchester still provided ripe conditions for competition and a terrain that the GP stars could attack.
Seewer couldn’t make the best of starts in the first moto as he launched out of the gate after taking seventh pick. The Swiss was part of a chaotic fight among five riders for fifth place. The melee continued through perhaps the best race of 2015 as Valentin Guillod, Jeffrey Herlings and Max Anstie took their tussle for the lead down to the last lap. Seewer made his presence felt among the group, although he struggled with trying to overtake Alex Tonkov, and pushed hard on the final circulation to be able to take a decent sixth place away from Thomas Covington.
The second moto saw ‘91’ again in the top seven around the opening corner and through turn two that dropped the MX2 pack down the hill for the first time. He slotted behind Pauls Jonass in fifth place and kept the Latvian in distance but ran a similar pace and sealed a top five result.
Round four of nine in the EMX250 European Championship saw Brian Hsu and Bas Vaessen roll onto the line with their RM-Z250s. The rookies were unfortunate at the start of the first race as both were involved in crashes and collisions in the opening stages of the moto that left the pair searching for a path back through the pack. Hsu made it to nineteenth for two points as Vaessen had to retire and did not start the second race.
Due to the MXGP restart the second EMX250 event was pushed back in the schedule and did not begin until 18.00 on Sunday. Hsu made a top ten start at the second time of asking and fought with Frenchman David Herbreteau, keeping company with his former EMX125 peer for most of the affair. The German finally had to settle for ninth, which meant eleventh overall and he holds a rank two positions lower in the championship standings with a thirteenth.
The Grand Prix of France will take place at Villars sout Ecot and the proximity to the Swiss border means it will be the closest fixture to a home event for Seewer. Round eight will take place on May 31st.
Jeremy Seewer:
“I knew my speed was there on Saturday but we needed to make some small suspension changes and I felt really good today. I had a pretty good start in the first race but after a few laps I got a bit stiff with my arms and was stuck behind Tonkov as well; it was not easy to pass that guy! I lost my rhythm for a while but anyway by the end I could push to pass Covington. Another good start in the second moto and I had some elbow contact with other guys but that’s racing. I was behind Jonass for a long time and had a good flow going. I thought I could push faster but the track was a little tricky with the rain and on a track like that you can crash pretty big with just a small mistake. I told myself not to take risks for just that one point. Overall I’m a bit pissed with another sixth place…but it could be worse!”
MX2 Moto1: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 34:26.799; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:05.515; 3. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:10.678; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:29.783; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.055; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:42.085; 7. Thomas Covington (USA, Kawasaki), +0:44.125; 8. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +0:58.139; 9. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:01.738; 10. Ivo Monticelli (ITA, KTM), +1:11.618;
MX2 Moto2: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), 34:48.889; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:00.865; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:29.243; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:38.510; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:43.357; 6. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:54.396; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Husqvarna), +1:08.337; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +1:10.771; 9. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +1:11.839; 10. Thomas Covington (USA, Kawasaki), +1:21.065;
MX2 Overall result: 1. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 47 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 36 p.; 4. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 36 p.; 5. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 35 p.; 6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 31 p.; 7. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 27 p.; 8. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, KAW), 25 p.; 10. Petar Petrov (BUL, KAW), 22 p.;
MX2 World Championship standings (after 7 of 18 rounds): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 308 points; 2. Valentin Guillod (SUI, YAM), 216 p.; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 213 p.; 4. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, KAW), 205 p.; 5. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 189 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KAW), 189 p.; 7. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 182 p.; 8. Tim Gajser (SLO, HON), 169 p.; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, YAM), 167 p.; 10. Max Anstie (GBR, KAW), 158 p.;
EMX250 Overall result: 1. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 42 points; 2. Steven Clarke (GBR, HUS), 38 p.; 3. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 35 p.; 4. Darian Sanayei (USA, KAW), 34 p.; 5. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, HON), 30 p.; 6. David Herbreteau (FRA, KAW), 30 p.; 7. Ander Valentin (ESP, YAM), 27 p.; 8. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 22 p.; 9. Michael Eccles (GBR, HUS), 20 p.; 10. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), 18 p.; 11. Brian Hsu (GER, SUZ), 15 p.; 40. Bas Vaessen (NED, SUZ), 0 p.;
EMX250 Championship standings (after 4 of 9 rounds): 1. Adam Sterry (GBR, KTM), 150 points; 2. Nick Kouwenberg (NED, HON), 147 p.; 3. Damon Graulus (BEL, YAM), 140 p.; 4. Maxime Desprey (FRA, KAW), 134 p.; 5. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 104 p.; 6. Ander Valentin (ESP, YAM), 97 p.; 7. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, KTM), 80 p.; 8. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), 80 p.; 9. Steven Clarke (GBR, HUS), 71 p.; 10. Simone Zecchina (ITA, KAW), 68 p.; 13. Brian Hsu (GER, SUZ), 57 p.; 19. Bas Vaessen (NED, SUZ), 32 p.
